Conductor Wins BBC Music Fellowship

Carlos del Cueto, the RNCM’s Junior Fellow in Conducting, has won a BBC Music Fellowship to work as Assistant Conductor with English Touring Opera.

Provided by the BBC Performing Arts Fund, a total of £190,000 – funded through phone votes for BBC 1’s talent show The Voice – has been awarded to 19 music organisations across the UK, all of which will host a Fellow, offering an opportunity for motivated individuals to work under the guidance of professional mentors to develop their skills, showcase their work and experience the reality of working in the music industry across a wide range of genres.

Carlos said: ‘I’m delighted to receive this award to work with English Touring Opera for the duration of 2013. It’s an incredible opportunity to learn about the craft of conducting opera in a professional setting and with high-calibre artists. That I’ll get to know six operas intimately and actually conduct performances of most of them on tour is a tremendous learning opportunity, and a great step in my career. I’m very grateful to have this opportunity.’
Successful organisations were able to demonstrate that a Fellowship placement with them would offer significant professional development opportunities for a Fellow, that their placement would be realistic and achievable, and that the selection process they went through to identify the Fellow was fair and transparent.

Miriam O’Keeffe, Director of the Fund, said: ‘We are delighted that the money raised through the phone voting on The Voice will be used to support the next generation of musical talent.  Working with some of the most well respected arts and music organisations in the UK will not only nurture this talent, but will give the Fellows the experience and confidence to pursue their musical ambitions.’

Mark Linsey, Controller, BBC Entertainment Commissioning, added: ‘The Voice is really pleased and proud to be associated with the BBC Performing Arts Fund. There is such a strong synergy between the two as both want to get behind and promote great talent and see it prosper and reach its full potential.’

28 February 2013